Business and Finance

Long Chen sees earnings surge as paper prices soar

SOLID POSITION:The papermaker said it expects significant growth in sales over the coming five years as it opens a new plant in China’s Hubei Province

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 08, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

Papermaker Long Chen Paper Co (榮成紙業) yesterday reported that pre-tax earnings in the first half of this year skyrocketed 130.73 percent to NT$2.67 billion (US$87.2 million) from a year ago, aided by soaring paper prices in China and a better product portfolio.

Earnings per share were NT$2.11 in the first half, compared with NT$0.67 a year earlier, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Sales in the first six months of the year surged 24 percent annually to NT$19.19 billion, while operating income jumped 84.2 percent to NT$2.43 billion, the filing showed.

The sales prices of industrial paper products in China rose about 40 percent annually to a five-year high of 3,300 yuan (US$485.1) per tonne in the first half, Long Chen vice president Tsou Yung-fang (鄒永芳) said by telephone yesterday.    [FULL  STORY]

Cabinet to propose budget for infrastructure plan on July 10

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/06
By: Ku Chuan and CNA intern Lee Meng-tien

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) A Cabinet meeting will be held on July 10 to finalize the budget for a major infrastructure development program so that it can clear the Legislative floor as soon as possible, a spokesman said Thursday.

The meeting is expected to approve the first segment of the budget, said Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇).

The sum — more than NT$100 billion (US$3.27 billion) — will be earmarked for the period from July 2017 to the end of next year and will cover new items in the “forward-looking development program” such as measures to address the issues of food safety, low birthrate and talent cultivation, he said.

Hsu’s announcement came a day after the Legislative Yuan gave a third reading of the bill for the development program, which includes improvements in rail transportation, water environment, green energy, digital development, and urban and rural development, in addition to the three new items.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Mobile supports competitor’s system in row with content providers

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 07, 2017
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday threw its support behind a profit-sharing scheme based on viewing ratings, saying such a mechanism would be a win-win for content providers and TV services providers.

The nation’s No.2 telecom operator’s comments came as friction between Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and certain content providers about its multimedia-on-demand (MOD) Internet TV business led to consumer disputes following the launch of a new profit-sharing plan early this month.

Chunghwa Telecom has received numerous complaints from MOD subscribers over substantial cutbacks in on-demand channels due to the company’s conflict with its content providers over the profit calculation formula.

Under Chunghwa Telecom’s new profit-sharing program, “quality” content providers and TV programs with higher ratings would receive bigger shares of profits, while producers of “poor quality” content are granted smaller shares of profits and might be eliminated over time.
[FULL  STORY]

Evergreen recognized as best shipping line in Asia-Africa

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/06
By: Wei Shu and Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) Evergreen Marine Corp. said on Thursday it has been recognized by a

CNA file photo

shipping trade newspaper as the best shipping line in the Asia-Africa region, stressing its investment of significant resources to create more effective information systems and a reliable supply chain for its clients.

The largest container shipper in Taiwan, Evergreen said the award from Asia Cargo News reflects its improvements and innovations in service quality.

Evergreen said it has helped clients improve market competitiveness by developing e-commerce solutions that provide real-time information on merchandise and offer customer services that meet their needs.

The awards, hosted and organized annually by Asia Cargo News, recognize leading service providers including air and shipping lines, airports and seaports, as well as logistics firms.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei proposes cutting tax on unsold property

‘HOARDING TAX:The city council voted to more than halve a tax on empty homes for a period of three years amid falling prices, but builders demanded more

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 07, 2017
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Builders and developers yesterday welcomed a provisional tax cut on unsold houses, but said that homes ready for sale should be spared from the tax intended to curb property hoarding.

The Taipei City Council on Wednesday approved a proposal to reduce the so-called “property hoarding tax” for unsold houses from 3.6 percent to 1.5 percent for three years, effective immediately.

“The tax cut is positive, but more needs to be done to reinvigorate the property market,” the Real Estate Development Association of Taipei said.

The association urged the city government to remove the tax altogether on the grounds that all newly completed houses are intended for sale, like inventories in the manufacturing industry, and should be spared from punitive taxes if they fail to attract buyers.    [FULL  STORY]

0CPI up 1% in June on higher food prices

Focus Taiwan
Date: 017/07/05
By: Cheng Chen-wei and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) The local consumer price index (CPI) for June rose 1 percent from a year earlier

(CNA file photo)

on the back of more expensive food items, in particular vegetables, following several days of heavy rain in the month, government statistics showed on Wednesday.

On a month-by-month basis, the June CPI rose 0.76 percent and after seasonal adjustments 0.12 percent, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.

In June, food prices rose 2.20 percent from a year earlier with the price of vegetables, seafood and meat up 12.91 percent, 5.84 percent and 2.58 percent, respectively, the DGBAS said. The latest vegetable price increase was the highest since December, when the rise hit 16.53 percent also because of bad weather, the DGBAS added.

However, the price of fruit and eggs fell 6.92 percent and 6.04 percent, respectively, year-on-year, offsetting the impact of increasing vegetable prices, the DGBAS added.    [FULL  STORY]

Asustek ready for stage-two overhaul

INTO THE POOL:The PC, mobile and gaming units have to submit a list by tomorrow of employees they want to retain; those not listed will be relocated to a ‘talent pool’

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 06, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) is to initiate a second wave of corporate restructuring this week by transferring hundreds of employees from existing business units to a newly set up “talent pool.”

“Asustek does not plan to lay off employees. The idea of a talent pool is to make the organization more flexible,” spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone yesterday, dismissing market speculation that it was planning to axe a large number of employees to cut costs.

The company at the end of May announced the first phase of its corporate restructuring to boost growth, after reporting that first-quarter net income dropped to a 23-quarter low of NT$4.66 billion (US$152.74 million).

It spun off gaming PCs from its notebook computer division to form a new business unit, in a bid to allocate more resources to speed up its development.    [FULL  STORY]

First Hualien-Bangkok direct flight takes off today

The non-stop flight takes approximately 4 hours.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/07/05
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Following the Hong Kong-Hualien direct flight initiated in December, 2016,

pixabay

Taiwan’s Hualien County will see another international arrival with the first scheduled direct flight from Thailand’s Bangkok.

The first flight between Hualien and Bangkok took off in Thailand’s capital city at 4:30 pm today and will reach Hualien at approximately 8: 40 pm, the county’s second direct flight from an overseas destination.

The county gets the second international route after the Hong Kong-Hualien direct flight launched in December last year, a result of collaboration between the Hualien County Government and the Tourism Bureau’s office in Thailand.

Vietjet Air, the Vietnamese first budget airline, will be the one operating the direct flights between the two cities on a five-day per week basis. The non-stop flight takes approximately four hours.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s cost of living 34th-highest globally: Numbeo

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/07/04
By: Kuay Chau-churh and S.C. Chang

Kuala Lumpur, July 4 (CNA) Taiwan’s cost of living index was the 34th- highest among 115 countries

Tapei (CNA file photo)

around the world, according to a mid-year report released by global online data website Numbeo.

Numbeo compares a country’s cost of living index by calculating its rent, groceries and restaurant indexes and local purchasing power.

The latest report shows that Bermuda has replaced Switzerland as the place with the highest cost of living, followed by Iceland (3rd), Norway (4th) and the Bahamas (5th).

From sixth to 10th places are, in that order, Denmark, U.S. Virgin Islands, Japan, Israel and Singapore.    [FULL  STORY]

Manufacturing PMI up for 16th month

UPTREND:New orders, production, employment, inventories and supplier deliveries gained last month. Manufacturers also voiced optimism about second-half prospects

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 05, 2017
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) expanded for a 16th consecutive month to reach 57.6 last month, although growth has decelerated since peaking at 58.7 in December last year, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER,中華經濟研究院) said yesterday.

The economic barometer gauges the health of the local manufacturing industry, with scores above 50 indicating an expansion and those below representing a contraction.

“The latest PMI figures indicate that industry sentiment continued to improve, but at a slower pace,” CIER president Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) told a news conference in Taipei.

The nation’s four major manufacturing industries — basic materials, transportation, electrical and mechanical, and electronics and optics — all recorded expansions last month, statistics showed.
[FULL  STORY]